Her Little Knight
by carlotta1924
Summary: The Charming parents are out on a date, leaving Emma to babysit her seven-year-old brother Neal. Something scares Emma out of her wits while she luxuriates in a relaxing bubble bath. A little knight comes to save the day. Two-shot.
1. Chapter 1

_a/n: got inspired again after reading ouat fics. this is my first fic for once upon a time. don't own the show, just borrowing some of the characters._

* * *

"Okay kiddo, time for bed," Emma said. She picked up some of the toys that Neal had left strewn on the living room floor.

"Aw, Em, do I have to go?" Neal whined. He followed Emma's lead in fixing the mess though, thus getting the job done in no time.

Emma smiled at her little brother. He has been a babysitter's dream ever since their parents went out the door for a much-needed date. Neal ate his dinner without a fuss, helped his older sister with the dishes, and even took a bath by himself. Then as a special treat, Emma let him play with his toys in his corner of the living room past bedtime. Normally Neal got rowdy at times when his games get too exciting but there was none of that tonight.

"All right Neal, I will just be taking a bath now. Will you be okay here?" Emma asked as she tucked Neal in.

Neal's little chest puffed a little. "I will, Emma, I'm a big boy already."

Emma's eyes crinkled at the corners as she ruffled the boy's hair. "That you are, little man. Holler if you need anything."

"Yes, Em."

Satisfied that Neal would be all right, Emma then headed to the bathroom to prepare for a luxurious bubble bath. She poured lavender scent under the tap and as an extra touch, she lit some candles and placed them around the tub. Emma decided that the mood wouldn't be complete without music so she turned on her Bluetooth speaker and connected it to her phone. Soon after, the bathroom was filled with the cool, sultry tones of a female jazz singer.

Emma sighed contentedly as she finally sank under the frothy bubbles. She closed her eyes with a smile as she let herself relax into the most wonderful ending to her week. With all the adventures she's had since coming to Storybrooke, this certainly called for indulgence.

She hadn't been long in the tub when her eyes flew open. Had she heard something? Emma's brows furrowed as she listened further. She picked up a faint, yet definite rustling sound. She rose a little from the bubbles, straining to hear where the sound was coming from.

And then Emma saw it.

 _Cockroach_! Her mind screeched. Out of all the pests she had encountered, this certainly tops the list next to rats. The offending pest skulked around the corner of the bathroom, trying to crawl up the wall. How dare it disturb her bath?

Emma was torn. She didn't want to wake up Neal and ask him to kill the roach for her, as silly as the idea of a grown woman asking her baby brother to do so sounds, but then she also didn't want to deal with it by herself. Sense won over and she slowly got up from the tub and wrapped herself in a bath towel. She blew out the candles first since she didn't want the risk of setting the house on fire should things get hairy. Her fingers then curled around a slipper as she slowly took aim. However, the cockroach got away just as Emma's slipper smashed on the wall. Then it dived right at Emma, who screamed and fell on her backside as she tripped on her other slipper. The bug swooped upwards and then down again to settle on the floor.

Emma could only stare at the roach with her mouth hanging open. _Roaches could fly?_

A few seconds later, the figure of a small boy sped past her, yelling, "Never fear Emma, I'm here to save you!"

The blonde with her eyes wide took in the form of her brother. He was brandishing a broom like a sword as he searched the bathroom for signs of danger. "What's the matter?" the little boy asked.

His sister in her frightened state with all sensible thoughts gone, screamed at him, "Flying cockroach! Kill it, Neal!"

Neal has never seen a cockroach yet, let alone a flying one, so he remained calm and ever vigilant. He stood tall and proud as a seven-year-old boy with a broom over his shoulder could and told his big sister, "Stay here, Em. I'll get that cockroach. What does it look like? Where is it?"

"There!" Emma pointed shakily to the floor where the cockroach didn't move except for its antennae waving around. She couldn't help but think that the insect almost looked like it was mocking her.

Neal growled. Nobody and nothing messed with his sister. He began stalking the cockroach.

Somewhere in the back of Emma's mind went "Awwww" at the sight of her little brother trying to save her from an insignificant, two-inch brown bug. Yet it was a scary, dirty bug that _flies_. It has no business fluttering about the house, thinking it was a butterfly. She shuddered.

When Neal thought he was in the perfect position, he swung the broom with all his might... and missed. The cockroach took off right in the direction of the siblings, making a distinct buzzing sound like a fleet of Kamikaze fighter planes.

"AAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!"

* * *

"You know, we should do this more often," Snow said as she and David walked home from Granny's. She tightened her arm linking with her husband's and cuddled up to him.

David held her close. "Yes, we should." He kissed the top of her head. "I don't remember the last time that just the two of us went out."

Snow stopped walking and looked up at him. "No kids to worry about..."

"No magical beings to chase..."

"There's only you."

"And you..."

And their tender kiss was interrupted by a bloodcurdling scream. Their heads whipped onto the general direction of the scream and realised that the scream belonged to no one else but Emma. They broke into a run all the while thinking of all sorts of danger that have probably befallen their children. The two could make out distant sounds of objects crashing and garbled words like "kill" and "die", lending wings to their feet.

As Snow and David barged into the house, all thoughts of peril were dashed as they were greeted by a most comical sight.

Their brave darling daughter, the saviour of Storybrooke many times over, with only a bath sheet to preserve her modesty, was cowering in the corner of the kitchen (where the battle with the cockroach has moved) whilst shrieking at her brother, "Get it, Neal! Squash the stupid roach! Kill it!"

And their son, matching Emma's screams with "Die! Die!" while valiantly whacking away at the poor cockroach with the soft bristles of the broom until the creature finally lay still, quite flattened. All was quiet now except for the singer still faintly crooning in the background about love being easy.

Neal ran to his sister and held her face in his little hands. "Are you all right, Em?" he asked.

Still shaken, Emma could only manage a tiny nod. She smiled at Neal for his benefit.

Snow and David were stunned into silence at the whole scene. David was the first to recover. He cleared his throat. The siblings looked up to see their parents smiling at them, humour and mirth dancing in their eyes.

"Care to share what happened here?" David asked.

Emma had not fully recovered her powers of speech yet but Neal, still fresh from his victory, proudly piped up, "Mommy! Daddy! I saved Emma! I saved her from the flying cockroach!"

It was all Snow and David could do not to burst out laughing. While Neal excitedly jumped into David's arms relaying a blow-by-blow account of the whole ruckus, Emma was now turning beet red, unable to look at her parents. So great was her embarrassment at being caught acting childish and needing her younger brother to help her.

Still grinning from ear to ear, Snow took pity on her daughter and helped her up. There was going to be a lot of explaining to do, but first she had to help get everything and everyone involved restored in proper order. And senses.

* * *

"Really, kid, you don't have to do this," Emma muttered as Neal smoothed the duvet over her. After much protesting on her side, she eventually let her brother tuck her in her bed at his insistence.

"Yes, I do, Emma," Neal said matter-of-factly. He sat beside Emma on the bed. "What if that cockroach has a family hidden somewhere in the house and missed their mommy or daddy? You need someone to protect you from them."

The very thought of a swarm of cockroaches living somewhere in the house and avenging their family member's gruesome demise was so revolting that Emma shuddered for the second time. With some effort to steady her voice, she said, "Well, let's hope that's not the case, yeah, Neal?"

"Yup! But even so, I will be here to protect you."

Neal's face was so earnest that Emma's heart melted. She held out her arms to him. "Come here, you little knight, you."

Her little brother leaped into the hug, almost squashing her, and held on tight. "I'm a knight? You really think so?" he asked.

Emma smiled and held on just as tight. "Of course. You're my little knight in flannel pyjamas. With a broom for a deadly weapon. Thank you for saving me from that scary cockroach, good sir."

"I love you, Emma," Neal said, his voice muffled on Emma's shoulder.

"I love you too, kiddo."

* * *

 _a/n: anybody encounter a flying roach? lol. thanks for reading. :)_


	2. Chapter 2

_a/n: just a little something that won't go away. chalk it up to me finding the charming/swan family dynamic interesting. this one focuses mainly on emma and her parents. the usual disclaimer still applies, so on and so forth._

* * *

The next morning found Emma trudging down the stairs for a late breakfast, since she tried to sleep in to make up for the exciting events the previous night. Neal had already gone to school by this time.

Snow and David were having a muted conversation in the dining room as Emma came in. They stopped and turned to see their daughter, hair tousled and still rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

"Good morning sunshine!" said Snow merrily. "Had a good night's rest?"

Emma plopped onto her chair and poured herself a bowl of cereal. "Yup. Although I think I felt a weight around my middle sometime at the crack of dawn. But then it went away."

"That would be your brother, Emma," David said. "He wanted to stay and watch over you just in case anything happens again. Your mom and I thought that was very cute so we let him sleep with you in your bed. He even made sure to be quiet once he woke up so he won't disturb your beauty sleep."

"Oh. That explains it," Emma replied with her mouth full. She looked very much interested in her cereal now.

So Neal stayed with her for the rest of the night. Her adult, rational mind thinks it's somewhat an overkill as she was quite sure no other bug would pester her again. But then the thought of her brother making sure of her safety and comfort was, well, comforting more than her family would ever know. It has been some years since Snow had told Emma to get used to being put first, yet Emma is still awed sometimes at how loved she is by her family.

The three adults then sat in silence companionably, Snow and David nursing their cups of coffee while Emma finished up with her breakfast. When the silence went longer than what was deemed comfortable by Emma's standards, she glanced at her parents. Her hunch was right.

Snow and David were bursting to say something but looked apprehensive at the same time. Emma wasn't one to beat around the bush so she opened the floodgates for them.

"Okay guys, speak. I know you want to," Emma said, raising an eyebrow at Snow and David.

Her parents finally let out the laughter they've been suppressing.

" _Flying cockroach_?" Snow chortled, wiping tears from her eyes.

Emma glared at her mother. "Not funny, mom! I'm only acquainted with the crawling type, and they're gross enough as it is!"

"And really Emma, a broom?" David snorted.

" _Neal_ was the one using it, not me!"

"Ever heard of bug spray? We do have that here in Storybrooke, you know. Made with natural ingredients and all." Snow poked her daughter in the side.

Emma sat back in a huff and crossed her arms. She looked very much like a four-year-old who's not allowed sweets for breakfast. "Oh I don't know, we've never had a bug problem till yesterday, now have we?" she said sarcastically.

Still laughing, David moved to wrap his now pouting daughter in his arms. "You got us there, sweetie. But if you must know, Neal even inspected every nook and cranny of this house before he left for school. He said something about making sure there's no family of roaches out to get you."

"Isn't he the most adorable kid ever?" Snow chimed in.

"I wish I took a video!"

"Of Neal playing inspector-slash-exterminator today?" Emma asked her dad.

"No. Of last night!" Emma's parents practically roared with laughter.

"Well, it's nice to see that the both of you are having a good start to your day at my expense," Emma said. She stood up. "As it happens, I'll be getting my bonus today. But only Neal gets a treat." Emma resisted the urge to stick her tongue out at her mom and dad and went up the stairs to her bedroom, only to hear them call her name along with apologies and failing miserably as they dissolved once more in peals of laughter.

Oh, yes. And what a treat her baby brother will get. A huge, lovely ice cream sundae, Emma thought. Five scoops of ice cream with gobs of chocolate syrup and a generous smattering of sprinkles. She smiled. Neal will love that.

 _fin_

* * *

 _as ever, thanks for reading. :)_


End file.
